Kit Carson Scouts
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Kit Carson Scouts (Hoi Chanhs in Vietnamese, translated as "one who has returned") were a special US Army program during the Vietnam War, involving the use of former Vietcong combattants. It was originated and implemented by US Marines, and started when the 1st Marine Division decided to use defectors to locate enemy weapons caches and booby traps.
The 3rd Marine Division's Kit Carson Scout School trained former US enemy to work with units of their division. General Westmoreland issued in September 1967 a message directing all infantry divisions in Vietnam, including the Army, to begin using Kit Carson Scouts in conjunction with friendly operations. He directed that a minimum of 100 scouts per division was necessary to insure effectiveness. The 3rd Marine Division was the first unit in Vietnam to reach that level when the fourth Kit Carson Scout class graduated from the school in Quang Tri City in December, 1967.
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- From Foe to Friend, Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 33, No. 1, 78-93 (2006)
